A Dhaka court has granted police two days to question actor Niamot Ullah Bhuiyan, popularly known as Zaher Alvi, in their custody over the death of his wife Afra Ibnat Ikra.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Albiruni Mir made the decision on Wednesday based on a petition from the investigating officer in the case, confirmed prosecution police Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam, reports bdnews24.com.
The application for Alvi’s interrogation was filed on Jun 21 by Detective Branch (DB) Inspector Abdul Malek of the Mirpur Zonal Team, the investigating officer in the case.
Alvi surrendered before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin on Jun 18 and applied for bail, which the court rejected before sending him to jail.
In the application for questioning, police said Alvi had been posting insulting and provocative content about Ikra on Facebook.
DB Mirpur Zonal Team Inspector Abdul Malek filed the remand petition on Sunday and Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin set Wednesday for the remand hearing.
Alvi was brought to court for the hearing. Harun-or-Rashid represented the state while Nihar Hossain Faruk represented the plaintiff at the hearing.
Both of them moved in favour of the remand petition. Alvi’s lawyer Sheikh Robayat Islam moved for the remand to be scrapped and pleaded for his client’s bail.
After the hearing, the judge approved Alvi’s questioning in police custody for two days.
The remand application said, “Zaher Alvi used to write insulting and provocative comments targeting Ikra and post them on her Facebook. Despite the accused being married, on Feb 27, he wrote provocative comments alongside a picture of another woman and posted them on her Facebook.
“A 10-day police remand is required to clear up the main mystery in the case, arrest and identify other absconding accused, and to find the permanent address of the accused.”
Alvi’s mother Nasrin Sultana surrendered before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sefatullah’s court on Jun 4 and was granted bail.
Ikra was found hanging from a ceiling fan by her “Orna”, or scarf, at the family’s DOHS home in Pallabi around 11:45am on Feb 28.
Family members rushed her to Kurmitola General Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Police later arrived at the hospital to record the inquest report and collected evidence from the flat.
Her father Kabir Hayat Khan filed a case that same night, alleging Ikra had been driven to take her own life by prolonged family conflict and different forms of abuse.